First half: scenic, lots of hills. Second half: fewer hills, but very NON-scenic. Too many unmarked turns; I had to ask police many times, "Which way?" Good food at the end and great volunteers all along the way. They need signs for gear check at the expo.

I give the Thunder Road Marathon a huge thumbs up. This is a race that runners will appreciate. It is not a "flat and fast" course, but instead has rolling hills from start to finish but for each up there's a down. The course was very scenic (showcased a lot of Charlotte and the neighborhoods around the City) and traffic control was done well. The number of runners was perfect - enough to socialize some but not too many to overwhelm and slow things down (there was room for elbows and breathing). Another great thing was that the start and finish were right outside the Convention Center. It made staying warm before the race and getting warm after the race very easy. I am definitely planning on being back next year.

I ran this marathon for the 1st time this year. I heard dreadful things about the hills but was pleasantly surprised that it was not a disaster on that front. There were plenty but nothing too out of control. The expo was by far the most disappointing... very small and barely anyone was there. Bigger crowds would have been nice too - considering all of the hills, cheering people always help a ton.

In spite of the many many hills, I qualified for Boston today. I would like to thank Max and the rest of the 3:15 pace group for "snaking" us around the city. Awesome day.

The hills weren't big, but there were a lot of them. The first half I stayed on pace, which took everything out of me for the second half. Make sure you train for rolling hills/inclines, then endurance to stay on pace for the second half of the race.

This was my fifth marathon. I had hoped that a town like Charlotte would have a little bigger feel than this race. The expo was pretty dinky. I had also hoped that in view of last year's comments, the organizers would have upped the t-shirts to technical running shirts. Not so. Also, the host hotel would only give you a 1 p.m. late checkout time. Pretty tight when the marathon starts at 8. In all, though, the course was pretty, the weather was good, the water stops were well organized and staffed, and the small pockets of fans were enthusiastic.

In retrospect, I'm thankful I ran this marathon.

I'm not going to lie: the hills were grueling - but given that fact, I'm thankful that I can say I completed this challenge without stopping and I encourage others to take on this challenge too because it's quite a character-builder.

Charlotte will always hold a special place in my heart because of this marathon. I gave my perseverance and sweat and the race gave me more courage than what I already had.

Moreover, the convention center was a wonderful place to be before the race and the homes along the route were gorgeous. And who could forget the Charlotte skyline? Lovely.

Let me start by saying Charlotte is a great marathon. The weather was perfect - 40 degrees at start and finished at 65. There were clocks at every single mile and water/Gatorade stations every other mile. The course was well managed and great staff/volunteers at all points in the race. Finally the gentle ups and downs (what some are calling rolling hills) offer your legs a chance to use different muscles than when you run on flat surfaces the entire way. The first half is very scenic, so relax and enjoy it before buckling down for the less scenic but faster second half of the race. Perfect set up for negative splits if you run smart and within yourself. Great marathon.

I almost did not register for the race after looking at the profile. It was scary. It needs to be displayed in a different way. Turned out the hills on the course were not nearly as bad as the profile and compared to most I have run.

The registration form had a place to pay for the pasta dinner but nowhere on the website did it mention anything about the pasta dinner, the time or place. I did not participate. Another thing lacking was information about the bag drop. Nothing on the website about it. Us out-of-towners need as much information as we can get for planning purposes. As for crowd support, the only races where there is any crowd support are the big ones like NY, Chicago, Boston, etc. The only people cheering you on in the other races are friends and family of other runners. In the second half, when the runners got spread out, there needed to be some signs at the intersections where hard right or left turns were made. A couple times I had to stop and shout at the cop about which way I should go. Just a sign with an arrow on it would be great.

All in all, a well-run, small race with good volunteers at the water stops and other places.

I also liked being able to wait inside before the start even though it wasn't very cold this year.

Enjoyed everything but the warm weather.

- A 50 States Finisher

THE COURSE: I volunteered in 2005/2006 for this event and ran the half-marathon in 2007. I ran the entire marathon course on 2 separate days. Yes, this is a challenging course and it's no different from the Marine Corp Marathon ending on an uphill. I will say, it would be nice to have a course that avoids the rundown areas.

THE SPECTATORS: It's a small race, so you're going to have small crowds. Those that came out to cheer were very enthusiastic. Thanks for the support!

THE ORGANIZATION: I was overwhelmed by the organization of this event. Everything from start to finish was "top-notch." It had the feel of a "mini" NY or Chicago. The expo was easy to navigate for packet pick up. The baggage area at the start seemed to be professionally done. Most of the water stops were well-stocked with fluids and volunteers; a few could have used more people. The finish line was unbelievable: lots of food and volunteers, cheering fans, banners, and music. There was certainly a lot of work put into this race. Again, it was a big marathon production on a smaller scale. Well done!